India concerned over return of expats, students

India on Thursday said it was “concerned over the possibility” of the “return of a large number of Indian students studying in the US”—in the context of uncertainty over the continuation of the F-1 student visas—and said New Delhi had taken up the matter with Washington during the recent foreign office consultations.

New Delhi said the US had “noted” the Indian concerns. India also said that it had taken up with Kuwait the matter regarding the Gulf nation’s proposed Expat Quota Bill. According to media reports, the proposed Bill seeks to limit the number of Indians working there and therefore the Kuwaiti move could result in the return of lakhs of Indians working there.

On the students’ visa issue in the US, it may be recalled that as per reports, a raging controversy has broken out in the US on the uncertainty over continuation of the F-1 student visas in case students take online classes.

On the issue of the student visas, the MEA said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla had taken up the matter with the US during the foreign office consultations on Tuesday and had reminded the US side about the importance of educational exchanges and people to people contacts. The MEA said the US had “noted” the Indian concerns.

On Kuwait’s proposed expat quota bill, New Delhi said it was “closely following developments in Kuwait”and that “this matter was recently discussed between foreign ministers of both sides”. The MEA referred to the contributions of the Indian community in Kuwait and the entire Gulf region and said India had shared its “expectation” with the Kuwaiti side that their decision would reflect this aspect.